The Tour Course

I reluctantly removed a water bottle that I knew I'd later want, cut the top off of it with my pocket knife, and inserted a big can of road marking paint, wrapped in a can-cozy to keep it from rattling.  It was 7:30 am and we were getting ready to start our annual pre-ride of the Tour de Louisiane road course up around Stony Point, LA. My job was to freshen up the course markings and arrows that were painted around the 16 mile circuit.  Since we've used this same course for a number of years, most of the old markings just needed to be freshened up, so I was hoping that one can would suffice. The road course is a little complicated, so the markings are important, especially for the lead vehicles and the riders who might be off the back.  A couple of the turns come up on you pretty suddenly, too, and although paint on the road can be easy to miss when you're in the middle of a race, it's better than nothing.

For some reason I was already feeling kind of lousy from the start. Although there was no valid reason for it, aside from perhaps old age, my legs were loading up and aching on every climb as our group headed down the highway from "Cucumber Corner" where we'd parked to the actual road course.  I had this vague feeling that I might be coming down with something.  Anyway, the plan for the first lap was to ride easy so that I could stop ahead of every turn and freshen up the spray painted arrows. Unfortunately, I ran out of paint with two turns to go, so a few of us turned back toward the cars while the rest continued on to start the second lap.  I picked up a second can of paint and we backtracked around the course, painting the missed turns and then meeting up with most of the group, which by then had split, about half-way around. As we started lap #3, with the temperature rising and Jorge and a couple others pushing the pace, I retreated to the back of the paceline.  My legs hurt, I was feeling a lot hotter than I should, and every little climb was starting to feel like a mountain.  Something was definitely amiss, and it was time to pay attention to what my body was telling me.  Anyway, I hung on for the rest of the lap, at which point most of us headed back to the cars.  I don't know if I was dehydrated, fighting off a little cold, or what, but I didn't really feel good for the rest of the day.  At least I got most of the Tour de LA race bible finished -- just need to add in a few of the new sponsor logos -- so it should be up on the website tonight. 

While I was updating the "winner's circle" list with the names of last year's podium riders, I was looking back over some of the old names and wondered if Dan Casebeer was still around.  Naturally, I found him quickly and saw the he was running a bike shop in Minnesota.  As soon as I saw the rotating images with the pair of old Maresi shoes, Legnano bike, and embroidered wool USA jersey, I knew I was in the right place, so I checked for him on Facebook to let him know that the Tour de LA, which he won once and raced in a number of times, was now 40 years old.  He replied, "I do remember those days with lots of pleasure! I see a few of the characters from those days too...Mike King (who almost got arrested for public exposure (peeing in the trees) Tom Schuler who lives in Wisconsin and FB many others. remember the year I crashed in the TT on the famous bump I flatted and road the wheel to almost the finish line..still got 5th..."  I'm sure I've told that story to a hundred people over the years.  It's part of Tour de La lore now.  I vividly remember him powering down Lakeshore Drive in the time trial on a flat tire that he'd been riding on so long that the wheel was coming apart.  He almost made it to the finish line before the spokes went flying and it locked up and he went down.  While I was still wandering down memory lane, I got a new Facebook notice that Boyd Fink had posted some old Tour de LA photos from 1975.  I immediately stole them and added them to the NOBC Archive!